The tree of life...is a reward

Revelation 22:12-14
“Look, I am coming soon, and My reward is with Me to repay each person according to his work…Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life…

Based upon the context within the book of Revelation, we saw last time that to wash their robes was something that the believer did and was responsible for – to do what the Lord commands and live a life that He approves of.

From these verses in Chapter 22, we see that Jesus is proclaiming a specific blessing, a reward for those who wash their robes…but what is it?

that they may have the right to the tree of life

I would venture to say that most Christians immediately equate eating from the tree of life with having eternal life.  They would likely base that assumption from Genesis, when God was casting Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden:

Genesis 3:22
The Lord God said, “Since the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not reach out, take from the tree of life, eat, and live forever.”

However, as we’ve seen before, we must interpret Scripture first by the book it is in (the author’s context) before looking at the rest of the Bible for context.  So what does John say about the tree of life in the rest of Revelation?

In Jesus’ letter to the believers at Ephesus, He said

Revelation 2:7
To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Within the last words of the book, John also gives this warning:

Revelation 22:19
And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share of the tree of life and the holy city…

From these two sections we clearly see that the right to the tree of life can be earned, and it can be lost.  Rewards are like that; however, salvation from our sins and the gift of eternal life from Christ is not.  We cannot earn eternal life, nor can we lose it – because our eternal security depends upon Christ alone.

So how do we rectify what John is clearly teaching in Revelation (that eating from the tree of life is a reward) with what God says in Genesis (that eating from the tree of life causes man to live forever)?

The key difference between the two situations is the physical body of the person.  If Adam and Eve, in their earthly, natural bodies had eaten from the tree of life, then its fruit would have sustained their original bodies for eternity.  However, in the New Jerusalem, all inhabitants will have new resurrected bodies, just like Jesus.  These new bodies are given by God, are not corrupted by sin, and will not need to be “sustained” by food – these bodies do not need anything added to them to be given eternal life, because God made them to live eternally!

So if our resurrected bodies don’t need the tree of life to live forever…why should I care if I eat some of its fruit?

A few verses back in Revelation 22, John made this observation:

Revelation 22:2
The tree of life was on each side of the river, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month.  The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations

So from across Revelation we find these observations about the tree of life: New fruit every month, the tree is located in the paradise of God, and is only made available as a reward.  In addition to these personal-reward qualities, we see that there is some applicational reward as well – the leaves of the tree are for healing of the nations.  Truthfully, I have always been intrigued by that statement, and I expectantly wonder at what, exactly, participating in the healing of the nations will entail.

This understanding of the tree of life as a reward also fits in perfectly with the larger context we’ve been observing in Revelation – that the believers who partner with God now in this life will have earned the reward of greater partnerships in the next life.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life…

Keep Pressing,
Ken